Where to learn English in Moroni?

Moinaheri and Tahakima love English. The two female students have ambitious projects.

‘‘I learn English because I want to become a businesswoman and travel the world’’ said Moinaheri Abdallah, a student from Bandamadji Domba, a village situated in the south of Grande Comore. Miss Abdallah, 21, got her high school diploma in 2014 and started to learn English two months ago.    

Tahakima Mouignidaho, 22, is from Maweni Dimani in the east of the island. She also finished high school in 2014 and wants to integrate the University of Comoros in order to become an English teacher. The two students have chosen Star English, an English center established in September 1999 and located in Moroni, the capital city of Comoros. They are beginners.

Mr. Omary Jumaa, 54, alias Moustakim, is the manager and founder of Star English. According to him, the school consists of three levels: elementary, pre-intermediate and intermediary. Two months are required for each level. There are 4 classrooms available with a total number of 60 students enrolled. Each student has to pay 8,000 kmf ($20) per month. The school center offers other different services to the public such as a cyber café for internet users, photocopier, photograph and printing services. Moustakim’s small and medium company pays taxes for the government.

Madi Ahamada Kassim, 34, is a teacher at Star English. He teaches different levels in evening classes only. It’s his part-time job. In fact, he works in the public relation department of a foreign fishing industry enterprise located in Voidjou at about 3miles from Moroni. ‘‘Our students practice standard and British English. We use Oxford books, CD rom for the listening/writing and reading/speaking activities.’’ he said.  According to Kassim, he uses different topics to push the students to talk whatever their English level.

Mohamed Mouigni Mansuifat, 40, began to learn English in 2003. She had chosen to go to IMT (Institute of Management and Technology). Today, she is proud to be one the permanent instructors of the English learning center located in the north of the capital. IMT consists of 12 classes from level 1 to level 4. Each class has an average of 17 ~ 25 students. The center is open every day except Sunday and has an English club on Friday. ‘‘Every student whatever his/her level is free to come and learn. On Saturday, reading books, newspapers or watching English television programs are the main activities, ‘’ Mansuifat said.

Fahami Youssouf, 25, is from Itsinkoudi, a village in the east of the island. He is assistant accountant in a building company. He is proud to be employed in the company which has built the Comorian Parliament’s mosque. In his job, he had the opportunity to meet foreigners who always speak English.’‘ I realized that English is very important in terms of job offers.  So, I made the decision to go to IMT in order to learn English, ’’ he said.  Youssouf has a project. He wishes to continue learning accounting abroad especially in Malaysia where an important Comorian student community study there.   

Said Hassan Said Ahmed, 43, is from Itsandra Mdjini.  He is the co-founder of IMT with his big brother Azali. Said Ahmed runs the family concern founded in 1998. The English center has a total of 90 students. 3 months are necessary to complete each level. And student has to pay tuitions and fees of about 35,000 kmf per level. ‘‘We use American text books as we had received an aid from the U.S embassy in 2003. Many of our equipment such as TV set, head sets, books, flash cards are an American aid,’’ said the manager Said Ahmed.

Mahamoud Ahamed, 37, is the director and co-founder with his colleague and friend Zackaria Maoulida of the American English Training Center (AETC) located in the south of Moroni. The English school, which was launched in October 2009, consists of 5 levels: beginner, elementary, pre-intermediate, intermediate and advanced. The students’ registration is open for each term which lasts three months. The learner has the choice between three options in terms of payment. ‘‘You can pay KMF58, 000 for 6 months or KMF35, 000 for 3 months. You can also pay monthly KMF18, 000, ‘’ said the director.   The center offers three English programs: junior, academic and professional.

Ibrahim Mroivili, 36, dropped middle school in the 1990s. He spent one year in Nairobi in 2000 to learn English. When his visa expired, he came back home in 2001. Three year later, he decided to travel to Egypt to integrate the British Council and earned a diploma in tourism 4 years later. He has been teaching English in AETC since 2012. He teaches beginner and elementary classes. To register at AETC, a placement test is necessary. “There are 2 evaluations every 3 months in speaking, writing and listening comprehension tests” he said.   

Wilad Abdou, 23, is a student in French literature at the University of Comoros. He is in elementary level at AETC and wishes to integrate a computer science school in France where his father lives. 

Chami Mouzawar

Contributing writer

February 2016

A school to be believed in

Mrs. Moussa on the left with some of her staff members

Farhati Soulaimana Zarkaoui wants to care about people. ‘‘I want to become a doctor when I grow up,’’ she said. The 10 year old girl is in the fourth grade at Itsandra public school. The school is located in the north of Moroni, the capital city of Comoros and opened its doors in 1969 when the country was a French colony. The school consists of 10 classes from the maternal to the sixth grade. According to the director, Zainaba Moussa, 42, the maternal section which opened in 2011 recruits 3- 4 year old students from the village.

Abdullah Arafat, 32, likes her job. She works from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. She is graduated from the University of Comoros in 2008. She is the maternal school teacher and is in charge of 30 students aged 4-5 years. ‘‘As Arabic and French are in the syllabus, I teach them to read and write in the two languages,’’ she said. 

The old school building has 295 students with an average of 50 students per class for only five classrooms. Thus, each grade has class one week in the morning and another week in the afternoon following a rotating system determined by the secretary of Education. The staff members are only twelve: 11 teachers (8 women and 3 men) and a security agent. They are paid by the government except the security agent who gets his stipend from the community. Abdul-Aziz Amada, 29, has been hired as a security agent since 2012. He has a lot of work during the breaks and after class. ‘‘I have to take care of the kids during the breaks and make sure that they are safe when they cross the street to go back home,’’ he said.  

One of the maternal school classrooms

Soilihi Mohamed Cheikh is the former director of Itsandra Public School. He is disappointed that both the government and the community do not care enough about the public school. ‘‘Despite the poor infrastructures, our 6^th grade is among those which have the best score in the national level with almost 95% of students who succeeded in the national exam last year ’’ he said.

Since the 1970s, Itsandra public school had never been renovated by the Comorian government. Recently, some renovation projects were made possible through the partnership of some Comorian non-governmental organizations and the U.S. government. ‘‘Even if we have water, restrooms and electricity right now, we still need help in order to rebuild and renovate our village’s first public school,’’ said Mrs. Moussa.      

Chami Mouzawar

Contributing writer

September 2015/Update December 2019

P.S. Three years later some of the staff members retired and several renovation projects are still waiting potential partners.